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*DC: Despite having made only two appearances in the Golden Age before falling into comic-book limbo, the Riddler was one of a handful of foes selected to feature in the 1960s Batman TV show (memorably incarnated by Frank Gorshin), and as a consequence he was brought back into the comics world, beginning with Batman #171, only his third ever appearance! Now prominently featured (played by Cory Michael Smith) in the hugely successful Gotham TV series, Riddler’s stock continues to rise. This edition of Batman # 171, his Silver Age return and third ever appearance, is a GD copy with a pence price overstamp. Clean unblemished interiors, cover scene largely unblemished, but three small patches of ‘pallor’ at the edges, where the background colour has faded slightly. Nevertheless, sound and strong, firm staples; an attractive copy of a key issue, on sale at £100.

*DC: In 1992/93, DC produced the much-publicised ‘Death of Superman’ story arc that made international headlines; us old and jaded cognoscenti of the comic world knew better than to think DC would kill off one of their major iconic characters, but the general public were fooled just the same. When issue #75 of Superman came out, you had to queue round the block outside comic shops to get your hands on a copy as Superman fell victim to the power of Doomsday. Here’s your chance to relive the entire saga, preludes, spin-offs and so on all in this 12 issue set, all VF+ to NM grades, comprising (in sequence) Superman the Man of Steel #17, Superman #73 (2nd print), Adventures of Superman #496 (2nd print) , Action Comics #683 (2nd print), Superman the Man Of Steel #18 (2nd print), Superman #74, Adventures of Superman #497, Action Comic #684, Justice League of America #69, Superman the Man Of Steel #19 and finally Superman #75 (sealed collectors’ edition with all the extras (pictured), and, because we’re too good to you, the newsstand edition as well (2nd print), so you can read the conclusion without opening the sealed copy. SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: As you can tell from the name of our business, we’re a bit prejudiced on this one, but seeing how it was Legion of Super-Heroes fandom that brought us together, we think we’re entitled! We proudly present a nice run of Silver Age Adventure Comics in a mix of grades from #297 to #355 (Legion stories starting with #300). Landmarks in this update include the first appearances of Element Lad, Light Lass & Timber Wolf, as well as the dastardly debuts of the Time Trapper, Starfinger, Computo & the Fatal Five. Many fondly remembered storylines include the Adult Legion, the Death Of Ferro Lad and the Trial of Star Boy, but there’s loads more, and I could go on for pages… the biggest (and best) team of super-heroes in the far flung future. The Legion may have lost its way with current DC, but these are true classics.

*Marvel: A wonderful acquisition in our Slab Happy event this week! The debut of ‘Earth’s Mightiest Super-Heroes!’ – as they were straplined on their very first issue – is one of the most sought-after Marvel keys, as Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp – inspired, doubtless, by the recent success of DC’s Justice League of America – came together to battle the threat of Loki in this Lee/Kirby extravaganza. This copy of Avengers #1 is a cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, and has been graded by the American CGC company as a 4.0 purple label indicating a Restored grade – an Apparent VG equivalent, but with a note that the bottom edge of the cover has been trimmed. As you can see from the picture, however, this does not impact on the cover image at all, and honestly, if you didn’t know what to look for, then in the words of a wise man, ‘You can’t see the join, Ern.’ The Avengers, of course, are the commercial juggernauts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the comics have generated thousands of issues and multitudinous spin-off series, all of which began from this ground-breaking premier issue. On sale at £1,350.

*Marvel: In the early 1970s, with the supernatural craze at its height, Marvel sought ever-more ingenious ways to produce horror/mystery series which got around the then-Draconian censorship of the Comics Code Authority. One such was Ghost Rider, a retooling of a former Western hero as a stunt-riding Satanic minion (obviously). After a short but successful run in Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider moved to his own series under the aegis of Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton and Syd Shores, and achieved a very respectable 80+ run, and despite two disastrous movies starring Nicolas Cage, has continued to appear regularly ever after. This Ghost Rider #1 is a very attractive pence copy, with light spine and corner wear, but deep unbroken cover colour and tight corners, a copy with great eye appeal. FN p £100. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: From Journey into Mystery #103, when the Asgardian landscape was still ‘settling down’ in the relatively new Thor strip, two figures debuted who were to make a lasting impact in the life of the God of Thunder: The Executioner, a menacing figure whose might almost equalled that of the God of Thunder himself; and the Enchantress, mightiest of sorceresses, who was to become Thor’s most beloved enemy, occasionally doing good deeds because of her unrequited feelings for Thor – but never for long! Two of the most powerful characters in the Marvel mythos, the diabolical duo have bestrode the four-colour cosmos for decades, and this is where their infamous careers began! A FA/GD pence copy, with moderate spine wear and a lower spine split, marked creasing at edges and corners, but the central cover image is unimpaired. On sale at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: The 1970s Marvel Comics series of Star Wars isn’t commonplace in the UK, many of the issues having been completely non-distributed in Britain, and the rest having only low circulation here in the Old Country. We are delighted, therefore, to welcome back to our boxes the first ten issues, initially adapting the famous first movie, then from #7, featuring entirely original stories crafted by the Marvel Bullpen. Our copy of #1 is VF, a superb glossy copy with only the faintest ‘blunting’ of corners and a few very perceptible spine ‘ticks’ preventing a yet higher grade. On sale at £75. The remainder of the first ten are averaging VF, all but two of them cents copies. Hard to find in any grade, and you’ll go a long way before seeing copies as nice as these. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: With issue #25 of Captain Marvel, Jim Starlin took over the series and kicked up what had been a failing series to a stratospheric level – beyond the stratosphere, in fact, as Starlin threw in all the elements he’d recently introduced in Iron Man #55 – Thanos, Mentor, Eros and the other denizens of Titan – to create a star-spanning cosmic saga with major consequences for the Marvel Universe in general. The contrast was marked, and readers responded, setting a precedent for cosmic crossover sagas which, for better or worse, have been with us ever since. Starlin’s run on Captain Marvel lasted from #25 to #34, and we have all but two of them new in (lacking only #32 and #34) including early appearances by Thanos, who became a major villain not only in the comics, but on the big screen. Depicted is #28 FN p £30; others, including some non-distributed issues scarce in the UK, may be found in our online listings. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Given her peculiar origins, Dazzler’s longevity as a comics heroine has been remarkable. Conceived as a disco tie-in by Casablanca Records in the late 1970s, Marvel was to create a singing super-heroine and Casablanca was to recruit a live singer to ‘be’ Dazzler. Originally intended to resemble Grace Jones, the design was considerably altered to resemble then-hot actress Bo Derek. When the record company withdrew, leaving Marvel with an ‘orphaned’ character, she was introduced as a fully-fledged mutant in X-Men #130. Alison Blaire, with the ability to transmute sound into light, has been an unlikely mainstay of the Marvel Universe ever since, and we have a copy of her premiere appearance in X-Men #130, a near-flawless cents copy, NM at £75.

*Marvel: As detailed in our update for X-Men #130, the character originally conceived as ‘The Disco Dazzler’ underwent a number of changes before the record company co-sponsoring her pulled out. Thriftily, Marvel, retooled the prepared work into a series integrated into the Marvel Universe. Alison Blaire was now a mutant with the ability to transmute sound into light, and our roller-skated heroine, against all odds, became a popular character and part-time X-Man, around in one form or another ever since! In this second part of our Dazzler double-header this week, we have a complete set of Dazzler’s original 42-issue series, averaging VF/NM; illustrated is #1 VF/NM £15, with details on all the rest being available, as always, in our online catalogue.

*Marvel: A small update to this favourite title from 1968: issues #2, #4, #5 & #7 of Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD, all with art by the incomparable Jim Steranko. Covers on all four, interiors on #2 & #5. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Following the advent of the Comics Code censorship board, crime comics, which had been one of the more popular genres, faced some challenges, as ‘Crime’ was one of three words – together with ‘Horror’ and ‘Terror’ – specifically prohibited from use in titles by the Code. Many publishers gave up entirely, but Atlas tried to rebrand the genre under various cunning aliases. One such was Caught! – subtitled, ‘The Guilty Never Escape’ – with tense covers by the superlative John Severin and interior art by, among others, Maneely, Meskin and of course Severin himself. Illustrated is #1 GD £20; all five issues, the complete series, are now in stock, in grades ranging from Fair to VG+. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: Launched in 1950, taking over from the failed series Teen, Journey into Unknown Worlds initially delivered sci-fi shockers to the paranoid populace that thrilled to ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and other Cold War cinematic thrillers. Aliens and robots, however, rapidly gave way to ghosts, vampires and monsters, as JIUW became a fully-fledged horror title – at least until the advent of the Comics Code Authority! Our recent influx of Journey Into Unknown Worlds is so huge that, as previously noted, we’ve had to break it into two chunks, and this is the Pre-Code section, where Everett, Maneely, Sale, Sekowsky and other stellar artists brought shocks and shudders to the comics-reading populace. Illustrated are #8 (VG £120), #9 (GD £84), #25 (VG £73), #29 (VG+ £82), and #30 (GD/VG £55), but as with many of our long-running Atlas series, issues are in a wide variety of grades, and many ‘readers’ can be found in our online listings.

*Western: Among the plethora of Western series produced by Atlas in the 1950s was 1956’s Matt Slade, a young man tricked into becoming an outlaw who, after redeeming himself by public heroics, became an undercover US Marshal under the not-terribly-concealing alias of Kid Slade; he also got an inexplicable dye job, changing his hair colour from red to blond. Maybe if he was all that undercover, he should have considered changing his surname? Be that as it may; despite his convoluted backstory – and superb artwork from Maneely, Severin and Williamson, among others, Matt and his faithful steed Eagle didn’t have a lengthy career, lasting only eight issues until 1957, though Matt’s descendants have been retconned into the later Marvel Universe. We have Matt Slade #2-4, and Kid Slade #5-8 new in stock, all with unusual and distinctive vignette/border covers. Illustrated are Matt Slade #3 (VG/FN £25) and Kid Slade #5 (FN- £29). You’ll find these listed in our catalogue under M & K respectively. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1970, after the Warren horror comic magazines, Creepy and Eerie, had been successful for half a decade, the bandwagon jumpers were circling, and one of them was Skywald Publishing. Throwing together a bunch of Pre-Code reprints – artistically amended for added gore – and the occasional new story, they launched Nightmare, followed the next year by its companion Psycho. Successful enough to switch to all-new material, stories initially read like ersatz Warren tales, illustrated either by newcomers to the field – Jeff and Bruce Jones, Doug Wildey, Ralph Reese – or by folks whose professional careers were, by then, largely behind them (Syd Shores, Bill Everett). However, within a very few issues, writer/editor Al Hewetson’s – let’s call it ‘unique’ – writing style came to the fore, and the paranoid and often largely incoherent ‘Horror-Mood’, as he referred to it, became the norm. With a new, largely South American stable of artists, he created a miasmatic air of formless menace that challenged Marvel and Warren enough that they, according to Hewetson himself, colluded to deny Skywald distribution. We are delighted to have more of this oddball footnote in comics history in stock, with new listings for Nightmare from #6 to #21 (and its short-lived British reprint incarnation) and Psycho from #2 to #22. Illustrated are Nightmare #6 FN £13.75 and Psycho #2 VG/FN £11.50, with plenty more listed in our online catalogue!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: An attractive run of the earlier Victor Summer Specials, from the second Special in 1968 to 1976. Victor, home of ‘The Tough of the Track’, ‘Morgyn the Mighty’, ‘Braddock VC’ and many more, is fondly remembered by a generation of readers, and these tabloid-sized editions of the comic, predominantly new material created for the holiday market, were frequently lost or discarded on the way home, so fewer of them survive than their weekly siblings. In addition, this selection is in absolutely superb condition, almost no wear, no creasing, writing, yellowing, tears or staining, vivid and unfaded, showing no sign of the horizontal folds often inflicted on these oversized editions by careless newsagents. Highly sought-after items, these are absolutely the best copies we’ve seen in our quarter-century of trading, and we’re confident you’ll feel the same. 1968 is VF £80, 1970 VF £80, 1971 VF £50, 1972 FN/VF £45, 1973 FN/VF £45, 1974 FN/VF £45, 1975 VF £50 and 1976 VF £50. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Launched in 1959 in response to Fleetway’s War and Battle Picture Library series, second-string publisher Micron’s entry in the war stakes, Combat, had amazing tenacity, running more than 1,200 issues through to 1985, but has been all but forgotten by comics historians – not so by its devoted fans, however, who had cleaned out our stock of all but two issues! Fortunately for said fans, we’ve acquired 140 new copies of Combat PL, ranging from #34 to #513. For the first 256 issues, it shamelessly imitated the livery of its brethren, War and Battle, but with #257 it adopted a lurid new look, with garish and sleazy-looking cover illustrations, rendered with a great deal more energy than skill, reminiscent of the more frenzied low-budget war movie posters. Come and get some, if you think you’re hard enough!

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: School Friend Picture Library, in 1965, followed the lead of its weekly companion, and became June & School Friend Picture Library, with done-in-one stories of the regular characters. Among the more popular recurring characters were plucky resistance fighter Mam’selle X, Zanna Queen of the Jungle, the valiant Miss Adventure and Mimi the Mesmerist. From #364, the series also incorporated the defunct Princess Picture Library, adding regulars Sue Day and Sally of the Ballet to the rota, and the series continued merrily until 1971, stopping a few years short of the weekly comic. We have 60 new additions to this popular series, averaging a remarkable VF condition, truly lovely high grade copies from #340 to #566.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Here are six more of Moorcock’s books, coming from a range of series: An Alien Heat (Dancers At The End Of Time #1), Stormbringer (Elric), The Sword Of The Dawn (The History Of The Runestaff #3) and The War Lord Of The Air (Oswald Bastable #1). The remaining books are The Shores Of Death (a variant title of the novel The Twilight Man) and The Time Dweller (a collection of short stories).

As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 29th December 2018, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased by the weekend, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing:‘Long before the days of Snapchat and Instagram, celebrities’ public profiles were kept up by, among other media, comic books, in which licenced versions of the film & tv performers went through carefully-screened panelological hijinks. Two such were famous film comedians Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, each of whom racked up more than 100 issues of their respective series at DC from the 1950s through to the 1960s. Their star power, however, not having crossed the Atlantic, we’re now offering eight issues of Bob & Jerry – six Bobs, two Jerrys – at a significantly reduced price. From 1953 & 1954, we have Adventures of Bob Hope #19-24, a nice sequence, and from 1968 & 1971, Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 and #122. All are graced by the comedic art of Bob Oksner, written (at least largely) by Arnold Drake, and in decent mid-grades ranging from Good to Fine. Originally on sale at a retail of just under £150 combined, these can now be yours for just £50. UK postage, if required, is £5.’ SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*Clearance Corner: Our second and final clearance of Crisis features in Clearance Corner this week. A star of the late 1980s British comics boom and their attempt to produce intelligent, mature and politically and socially aware comics. Starting out with Third World War by Pat Mills & Carlos Ezquerra and New Statesmen by John Smith and Jim Baikie, it later featured The New Adventures of Hitler and other strips by Grant Morrison, Troubled Souls by Garth Ennis and John McCrea (Ennis’s start in comics) and many other noteable strips by British and European creators. The run lasted 63 issues from 1988-1991. This selection comprises 30 issues between #1 & #39, including 3 issues with free gifts (#15, #16 & #17). All on offer for just £20. UK postage if required will be a further £4.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: It’s a pleasure to add five more books by this author to our listings. Specialising in predictions of the near future, with many stories set in the year 2000, Reynolds correctly anticipated the credit-card economy, the worldwide web and a ‘Common Europe’. His anticipated utopian societies, sadly, were less accurate, but nevertheless he uses the imagined societies to explore how they would (or wouldn’t) work. In this update we have Earth Unaware, Police Patrol: 2000 A.D., Space Pioneer, The Earth War and Time Gladiator.

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following file in our British section:*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

With less than two weeks to go before the Bookshop Crawl, here’s the ID you need to produce to claim your 10% discount on any books purchased on Friday 8th or Saturday 9th February. You can find out more about the London-wide Bookshop Crawl here.

*DC: Having quite startlingly revitalised the moribund Jimmy Olsen title with #133, writer/artist Jack Kirby took it up a notch by introducing Darkseid, the fiendish ruler of the hell-world Apokolips, in the very next issue. It was only a fleeting cameo – Darkseid’s image flashes up on a monitor screen while Facetiming with Morgan Edge – but it’s nevertheless the first appearance of the villainous fulcrum of the entire Fourth World Saga, and as such is in high demand. Our new copy of Jimmy #134 is a gleaming VF+ copy, small pence price stamp, with only very light corner wear which does not impair the striking Neal Adams cover image. Tight staples, and off-white flexible interior pages. This highly desirable copy of a zooming-up key debut is on sale at VF+ p £300.

*DC: In issue #11 of Aquaman’s first series, ‘Doom From Dimension Aqua!’, he and Aqualad met Mera, an overthrown and exiled Queen from an other-dimensional realm who sought their aid in regaining her throne from the usurper Leron. Once back in power, she declined Aquaman’s invitation to remain in Atlantis… but two issues later, in #13, she returned and just never went away again (well, apart from being occasionally dead and/or insane, but that’s comics for you), eventually becoming Aquaman’s wife and Queen of Atlantis. Having been incarnated by Amber Heard in the smash Aquaman movie, interest in Mera is rising rapidly, making this FA/GD copy of her debut issue – generally sound pence copy, with one marked upper diagonal cover crease – a relatively affordable buy at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: In this week’s visit to Batmania, we feature Detective Comics from 1950 to 1980 – three decades of Caped Crusading! While Batman’s eponymous series remains popular, his ‘home’ was in Detective Comics, where he made his debut back in 1939, and has starred ever since. We have a range of twenty copies added to our selection, from 1950’s #166 (pictured, GD/VG £100) through to 1980’s #487, with the first appearance of Steve Ditko’s The Odd Man! (Actually, come to think of it, maybe the only appearance of the Odd Man!). Eras touched upon here are the family-friendly Caped Crusader of the 1950s, the early gloamings of the Dark Knight in the early 1970s, (the classic Neal Adams illustrated #395), several of the Englehart/Rogers ‘reboot’ issues with Dr. Phosphorous and Clayface III, and the ‘Dollar Comic’ issues incorporating the Batman Family – several of these giants have beautiful work by Golden, Rogers, Starlin and more! Batman & Robin, plus at various times Pow-Wow-Smith, the Martian Manhunter, Man-Bat, Roy Raymond and more – await the pleasure of your company! SORRY, #166 NOW SOLD

*War: Launched in 1952, War Action eschewed the recurring series characters adopted by a lot of its contemporaries, and concentrated on multiple one-off tales of battle and carnage. Lasting fourteen issues only, with contributors like Sale, Romita, Krigstein, Heath and Pakula, these prominently feature the touches of lurid bloodshed, casual racism and mordant humour that were, regrettably, standard for the period. Effectively cancelled by the advent of the Comics Code Authority, the entire series is now in stock. Depicted is issue #1 (GD- £24), with details on the rest of the series available in our online catalogue. SORRY, WAR ACTION #1 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In 1964, the adventures of Iron Man were enlivened by the appearance of the lovely but lethal Natasha Romanoff, code-named the Black Widow, one of the Kremlin’s deadliest operatives. Originally an appealing but unoriginal femme fatale in civvies, inspired by Caniff’s Dragon Lady and other Mata Hari wannabes, Natasha proved surprisingly adaptable, allying herself first with the second Crimson Dynamo (also premiering in this issue) and later Hawkeye, and trading her cocktail dress and veil for the first of many costumed ‘looks’ as she switchbacked from villainess to heroine, culminating, of course, in her on-screen embodiment by Scarlett Johansson in the Avengers and other Marvel movies. This issue is where ‘Tasha’s career kicked off, and while superficially sound, there is considerable spine wear, with a long lower spine split. Nevertheless, the cover scene is unimpeded apart from a very faint long diagonal crease, and the interiors are very presentable. Overall, we have graded this at FA+, making this pence copy a relatively affordable key debut issue at £80. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: The implacable robotic Sentinels, nemeses of the X-Men, have loomed large in the history of Marvel’s Mutant Heroes, making multiple appearances, each more fearsome than the last. The creations of a man determined to expunge the mutant genome from humanity, they emphasise the X-Men’s ‘otherness’, which is why they resonate so strongly with the readership – and in a world where fascism seems sadly to be coming back into fashion, they’re more relevant than ever! This is the first appearance of the Sentinels, a FN copy, no pence stamp or overprint, with vivid unfaded red background and only minor wear at edges of cover, on sale at £130.

*Marvel: Marvel’s First Family, having returned to the Marvel Universe after a long absence, are rapidly gaining in popularity, and we’re chuffed to have thirty issues of Fantastic Four added to our stock, including a number of landmarks. We open with #25, the first definitive Hulk/Thing clash; #28 features a battle between the FF and the proper X-Men; the debut of Diablo in #30; the premiere of Madam Medusa and the Frightful Four in #36; the first Gorgon in #44; Ronan the Accuser in #65; the first Him – the man who would become Warlock – in #67 (VG+ p £45, pictured); the first Agatha Harkness in #94 and two Annual events – Annual #2, with the full origin of Doctor Doom revealed for the first time and Annual #3, with the star-studded wedding of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl, co-featuring virtually everyone who’d appeared in the Marvel Universe to that date! SORRY, FF #67 PLUS ANNUIALS #2 & #3 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of our favourite classic characters here at 30th C., the anti-hero Prince Namor, scion of Atlantis, has been alternately defending and attacking the surface world ever since his Silver Age debut in Fantastic Four #4, and these early issues of his Silver Age solo series are beautiful high grade copies, authenticated by CGC Blue Labels, indicating no restoration. Issue #2 is 9.0 VF/NM equivalent at £75, and #7 is a still higher 9.2 NM- at £60. Sub-Mariner is one of the few Marvel characters as yet untouched by the media’s feeding frenzy for properties to adapt, but with the recent blockbuster success of ‘Aquaman’, can a Sub-Mariner franchise be far behind? Act now, while you can still afford ’em! SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: You seem to like our catalogue expansions — increasing the range of classic titles into our catalogue and our ground floor boxes. This time it’s the turn of the Avengers, now extended up to #300 (1989). If, like us, you’re bemused and bewildered by the sheer number of Avengers titles these days, and the constant relaunches, so you can’t tell which series is which, return with us to the days of good, old-fashioned storytelling and proper continuity, when the quality of story and art afforded a good read, as in these classic tales — most issues cheaper than a new comic! Pictured: our favourite cover from this time: #223 (Taskmaster app) VF/NM £15. SORRY, AVENGERS #223 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: The tabloid-sized Treasury Editions published by Marvel from 1974 to the 1980s may not have caught on as a permanent format, but they certainly have their fans, particularly among a certain generation in the UK whose earliest exposure to the iconic Marvel characters was via these huge compendiums of classic adventures. We never keep these stonkers in stock for long, so we’re chuffed to welcome three back to our lists: in the regular Marvel Treasury Edition series, #2 features the Fantastic Four, and is VG/FN p £8; Marvel Treasury Of Oz presents ‘The Marvellous Land of Oz’, an all-new sequel to the previous Marvel/DC collaboration ‘The Wizard of Oz’: Marvel Treasury of Oz #1 is VF/NM £20; and finally, Marvel Special Edition #1 from 1975 features the Spectacular Spider-Man, a ‘Deluxe edition of Spidey’s Greatest Foes’ with vintage Ditko classics, including the debut of the Sinister Six from Spider-Man Annual #1! This low-distribution, epic-sized event is a sparkling VF/NM at £35 (Pictured.) SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A rarity this update: 1992’s one-off, Spider-Man Special Edition: The Trial of Venom. This was an extremely limited issue which could only be obtained, at the time, by making a $5 charitable donation to UNICEF. By Peter David and Jim Craig, the one-shot co-stars Daredevil (hence the legal framework for the plot), and comes with a poster bound in. Although the print run is uncertain, very few copies are now in circulation, and this one comes with the still-firmly-secured poster. NM at £35. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Response to the Claremont/Miller Wolverine mini-series of 1982 was such that Marvel began working on a Wolverine ongoing title almost immediately, but owing to editorial clashes, the series didn’t actually make its debut until 1988. Chris Claremont continued the scripting chores on the adventures of Marvel’s favourite mutant, now an entrepreneur/crimelord in the rogue nation of Madripoor, with art by the superlative team of John Buscema and Al Williamson. This is a superior VF+ pence copy, with only the very lightest of spine stresses (not breaking cover colour) preventing a still higher grade. On sale at £35. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: By 1964, the Marvel Age had already been well established, and fans were clamouring for the stories they had missed. Marvel promptly obliged by launching, in 1964/65, Marvel Collectors’ item Classics (with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Ant-Man) and Marvel Tales (with the X-Men, Avengers, Hulk and Doctor Strange), reprinting the earliest adventures of their heroes. The line-ups shifted and settled over time, but these ‘King-Size’ compilations helped many a Marvelite catch up with the ‘Story So Far’. Now old enough to be collectors’ items in the their own right, we have Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics #1-4 and Marvel Tales #2-5, plus issues #2-4 of Fantasy Masterpieces, which started as a ‘Big Panty Monster’ reprint title, but expanded to giant size with #3 and reprinted Golden Age Marvel stories for the first time ever.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: An unusual attempt at a villainous protagonist was the Yellow Claw, an Oriental scientist whose relentless attempts to conquer the world were thwarted by the vigilance of FBI Agent Jimmy Woo – the company’s first Asian-American hero, historians please note. Resemblance to Sax Rohmer’s legendary Doctor Fu Manchu is entirely coincidental, ahem ahem. In this fourth and final issue of the Claw’s series, he launches four separate attacks upon democracy: the Living Shadows, solidified thought-projections, the unnerving bird-human hybrids the Skreemies, and his most fiendish plot yet – brainwashing by television! All four tales are illustrated by Jack Kirby and John Severin (behind a solo Sev cover), and the combination of the two artists gives a compelling air of palpable menace, highly appropriate to the narrative. The Yellow Claw returned to the Marvel Universe in the 1970s as an antagonist of Captain America, and Jimmy Woo became one of the Agents of SHIELD (and then Atlas), so both hero and villain are still very active today. This copy of Yellow Claw #4 is an attractive GD+, with tight staples and superior inside pages. The only significant flaw is a patch of wear approx. 1″, at the Claw’s left shoulder, which does erode the spine in that region. GD+ £135.

*Horror 1940-1959: Launched in 1950, taking over from the failed series Teen, Journey into Unknown Worlds delivered sci-fi shockers to the paranoid populace that thrilled to ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and other Cold War cinematic thrillers. Aliens, robots, giant critters and strange transformations were the order of the day, delivered with inventiveness and élan. Our incoming stock of Journey Into Unknown Worlds is so big, we’ve had to break it into two chunks. This week, we present the post-Code issues, commencing with #36 and continuing until the final issue, 1957’s #59. Kubert, Torres, Krigstein, Williamson, Davis, Crandall, Orlando, Morrow and Powell are among the contributing artists. Pictured: #38 VG+ £55, #42 VG+ £55, #46 VG+ £51, #51 FN £78 and #53 VG+ £51. Other copies in a range of grades may be found in our online listings… and keep your eyes peeled for the Pre-Code listing for this series, coming real soon now!

*Modern Reprints: Two impressive full-colour hardcover compilations grace our shelves this week: from 2015, Chartwell Books’ collection of Wonder Woman stories from WW II: ‘Wonder Woman, The War Years 1941-1945’ collects the Princess of Paradise Island’s battles against Axis forces, as told by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter. Roy Thomas provides the narrative and context for this volume, VF at £15. And from this very year of 2019 – but bearing the patina of an eldritch age – ‘Haunted Horrors’, from Craig Yoe courtesy of IDW publishing, another in the author’s compilations of vintage Pre-Code thrillers and shockers, with a multitude of artists. Brand new at £23. SORRY, HAUNTED HORRORS NOW SOLD

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: Following on from last week’s massive Creepy update, we’re delighted to present a similar sized chunk of Creepy’s companion title Eerie. Similarly a black and white horror magazine from the 1960s-1980s, Eerie featured the same roster of fabulous artists as its equally famous sibling. From #2 (1st regular issue, #1 being a barely circulated ashcan), to over #100, dozens of new issues, including several previously missing from our listing. Pictured is #25 (Steranko cover) FN £13.75.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: Running for 31 issues between 1983 and 1990, Nemo: The Classics Comics Library had as its emphasis the classic American newspaper strip. While some issues were thematic, most were a mix of articles, interviews, comic strip reprints and more. We have most issues fresh into stock, a mine of information for lovers of this genre.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1977, 2000 AD launched into the consciousness of the nation, and for better or for worse, the comics world was never the same again! Oddly enough, the title’s most famous denizen, ‘Judge Dredd’, didn’t make it into the first edition, debuting in #2, but the five strips that did premiere in #1 pushed the boundaries; ‘Flesh’ saw a starving near-future use time-travel to go back and harvest dinosaurs – what could go wrong? ‘Invasion’ saw a band of rebels stand alone against the ‘Volgans’ who had conquered the United Kingdom; ‘Harlem Heroes’ produced a violent reprise of the original ‘Rollerball’ movie, and ‘MACH 1’, with its bionically-enhanced action hero, was a clear homage to… oh, well, have a guess. No, not ‘Get Smart’. Topped off by a ‘reimagining’ of the classic hero ‘Dan Dare’ designed to induce apoplexy in aficionados, the violent, bloodier ‘heroes’ set the scene for myriad imitators, some more successful than others. This is a superior mid-grade copy, with clean bright staples, tight corners, no cover marring beyond very light patches of tape residue where the free gift has been carefully removed, light to moderate edge wear and only light yellowing of the pulp paper. GD/VG £70. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Launched in 1974, Warlord Weekly was a sufficient hit to earn its own oversized (13″ x 10″) Summer Special the very next year, and we have a copy of that very first Special, kicking off an annual event lasting until 1989, three years after Warlord Weekly had breathed its last! This VG copy comes complete, of course, with the centrefold ‘Battler Poster’ intact. On sale at £25. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: From 1967, Tina, launched in multiple language editions across Europe, was so heavily pre-sold prior to its launch that it could legitimately claim, even on the front of its debut issue, ‘More copies sold than any other girl’s paper in the world!’ With a strong adventure-oriented line-up, curvaceous secret agent ‘Jane Bond’ illustrated by Michael Hubbard, was the lead, and the ‘Space Girls’ (in colour, by Dan Dare illustrator Keith Watson) added a sci-fi touch. Other features which debuted here were ‘Moira – Slave Girl of Rome’, exotic island drama with Brenda Burn and ‘My Chum Yum-Yum’, pop musicians ‘Jackie and the Wild Boys’, western adventuress ‘Glory Gold’ and ‘Barbie’. Yep, that Barbie. After thirty issues, Tina merged with Princess and lived a long and happy life as Princess Tina, but the pre-Princess issues remain scarce. This copy of the premier issue is an attractive Fine, with excellent interior pages and tight staples, on sale at £40. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD